Semitrailer and method of loading same onto flatcar



March 7, 1967 F. GODBILLE 3,307,722

SEMITRAILER AND METHOD OF LOADING SAME ONTO FLATCAR Filed Jan. 13, 1965 5 Sheets-Sheet 1 FIG. 7

FRANCO/S GODB/LLE V IN VENTOR.

AGENT SEMITRAILER AND METHOD OF LOADING SAME ONTO FLATCAR Filed Jan. 13, 1965 F. GODBILLE March 7, 1967 5 Sheets-Sheet 2 FRA NCO/S GODBILLE INVENTOR.

' March 7, 1967 F. GODBILLE 3,

SEMITRAILER AND METHOD OF LOADING SAME ONTO FLATCAR Filed Jan. 13, 1965 5 Sheets-Sheet 5 H6 4 FRANCOIS GODBILLE I N VE N TOR.

March 7, 1967 F. GODBILLE SEMITRAILER AND METHOD OF LOADING SAME ONTO FLATCAR Filed Jan. 13, 1965 FIG. 5

5 Sheets-Sheet 4 'FRA NCO/S GODB/LLE INVENTOR.

F. GODBILLE 3,

SEMITRAILER ANDYMETHOD OF LCADING SAME ONTO FLATCAR March 7, 1967 5 Sheets-Sheet 5 Filed Jan. 13, 1965 FRANCOIS GODBILLE INVENTOR.

United States PatentOfiice 3,307,722 Patented Mar. 7, 1967 6 Claims. icl. 214 1s2 My present invention relates to a semitrailer adapted to be loaded on a railroad fiatcar of the type having a rearwardly and downwardly sloping platform to receive the downwardly projecting rear wheels of such semitrail er, e.g. as disclosed in US. Patent No. 3,012,524.

Heretofore, fiatcars of this type could only accommodate semitrailers with a single rear axle and/or with a body of rather limited size, since in the presence of several rear-wheel axles the semitrailer would have to ride down the platform only on the foremost set of its rear wheels or else in a sloping position. In the first instance the trailer body could not be lowered as far as a single-axle vehicle and, under certain loading conditions, would have a tendency to tilt backwards about its foremost axle, whereas in the second case the raised front end of the body might project too high above the railroad tracks. Even with a shiftable rear-wheel bogie it would not be possible,.in the latter case, to lower the front end by a downwardly sliding motion since then the rear end of the body would strike the frame of the flatcar.

It is, therefore, an object of my present invention to provide an improved semitrailer construction adapted to avoid these difficulties regardless of the number of rearwheel axles.

Another object of this invention is to provide a method of loading such semitrailers onto flatcars in a manner enabling the trailer body to overlie substantially the entire frame of the car so that semitrailers of a length approximating that of the flat car itself can be conveniently loaded without interference with the operation of the railroad.

The foregoing objects are realized, in accordance with my invention, by the provision of a semitrailer body whose rear-wheel bogie is mounted on the body with freedom of relative horizontal displacement and swinging motion about a horizontal axis located forwardly of the rear end of the body, it being thus possible to let the semitrailer roll down the sloping platform in an inclined position and then, as soon as the rearmost wheels strike a stop on the fiatcar platform or its frame, to swing the body back into horizontal position whereby its front end comes to rest on the forward portion of the frame. In this position, according to a further feature of my invention, the trailer body may be driven back horizontally with reference to its bogie and to the fiatcar frame until the rear end of the body is cantilevered above that frame and substantially in line with the rear end of the latter.

The invention will be described in greater detaail hereinafter with reference to the accompanying drawing in which:

FIG. 1 is a side-elevational view (parts broken away) of a fiatcar of the character described and of a semitrailer with tandem axles in the process of being loaded thereon;

FIG. 2 is a view similar to FIG. 1, illustrating a further stage in the loading of the semitrailer onto the fiatcar;

FIG. 3 is a top plan view of the forward end of the fiatcar of FIGS. 1 and 2;

FIG. 4 is an end view of the fiatcar together with part of the semitrailer, taken on the line IVIV of FIG. 3;

FIG. 5 is a cross-sectional view of the rear part of the semitrailer, drawn to a larger scale and taken on the line VV of FIG. 1; and

FIG. 6 is a sectional View taken on the line VI-VI of FIG. 5.

In FIGS. 1 and 2 I have shown a railroad fiatcar having a frame 1, supported by wheels 2, and a sloping platform 3 with a front end hinged to the frame 1 at 4 and with a rear end resting on a shoulder 5 of the frame. Guide rails 6a on the front portion of the frame are in line with similar rails 62: on platform 3 to form a substantially continuous track for the guidance of wheels 9, 9" on a bogie 8 which is mounted for relative sliding and swinging movement, in a manner more fully described hereinafter, at the underside of a semitrailer body 7. These Wheels, as best seen in FIG. 5 for the more forwardly positioned set 9', are arranged in closely spaced pairs with intervening rollers 10', 10" riding the crests of the rails 6a, 6b whereby the tires on the wheels are relieved of pressure during transportation on the fiatcar.

The front of frame 1 carries a base 13 having a longitudinal median slot 14 (see FIGS. 3 and 4) designed to receive a locking pin 12, depending from the forward end of trailer body 7, when this body is driven onto the flatcar in the direction of arrow 11 (FIG. 2), a latch bolt 15 serving to hold the pin 12 in position and to prevent any unitimely shifting of body 7 relative to, fiatcar 13. Another base 13a rises from the rear portion of frame 1 and both bases 13, 13a are shown provided with rollers 16, 16a adapted to support the body 7 and to facilitate its sliding relative to the fiatcar frame.

The construction of bogie 8 has been illustrated in detail in FIGS. 5 and 6. The bogie comprises two distinct portions 8' and 8" for the support of the axles 16, 16" of wheels 9' and 9", respectively. Fore portion 8 comprises a housing 8a slidable along the bottom of body 7, leaf springs 8b carried by this housing and brackets 80 engaging the axle 16; an arm 8d, journaled on axle 16', is rigid with a similar housing 82 of aft portion 8" but may itself be somewhat resilient in order to give for further axles.

The normal position of bogie 8 relative to body 7, illustrated in FIGS. 1 and 6, is maintained by conventional means shown here as including a crank 17 with linkages 18a, 18b whose extremities 18 (FIG. 5) project through holes in flanges 19 extending laterally of the trailer body 7, in the manner more fully disclosed in US. Patent .No. 3,004,772; operation of the crank 17 enables withdrawal of the tips 18 from their holes whereupon the housing 8a along with axle 16 can be shifted forwardly and, if desired, locked in some other position by the introduction of these tips into other holes of flanges 19.

Although similar locking means could be provided in the housing 80, I have shown the latter equipped with a rod 20 which normally traverses an opening in a rear flange 21 of the vehicle body and can be retracted against the force of a spring 22 by a knob 23. Upon such retraction, bogie portion 8" is free to swing about an axis coinciding with that of axle 16' into an inclined position as illustrated in FIG. 2.

The loading operation illustrated in FIGS. 1 and 2 proceeds as follows:

Vehicle 7, 8 is brought by a tractor 24 with hoist 25 onto a pier 26 facing the siding 27 on which the fiatcar 1-3 stands. Then, body 7 is driven backwards onto the in FIG. 2; during this operation the position of bogiev S does not change. Thereafter, crank 17 is operated to withdraw the locking pins 18 (FIG. 5) so that the body 7 is free to slide rearwardly relatively to bogie 8 into a cantilevered position (dot-dash lines, FIG. 2) with reference to its wheels 9', 9"; at the end of the loading operation, pin 12 is latched in its slot 14 (FIGS. 3 and 4) by the bolt 15 and the semitrailer, uncoupled from hoist 25, is ready for transportation on the flatcar. It will be seen that the body 7 in its ultimate position is substantially in alignment with frame 1 and that its overhanging rear end has come to rest on rollers 16a serving as an auxiliary support therefor.

For unloading, the reverse procedure is followed.

The pivotal mounting of unit 8d-8g on an axis coinciding with that of the foremost wheels 9', or at least in proximity to this wheel axis, affords maximum angular mobility to this unit without giving rise to any torque which would tend to lift the rear wheels off the rails 6b when the body 7 is horizontally disposed as shown in FIG. 2. Naturally, means (e.g. rollers) could be provided to improve the slidability of housing 8a along the underside of body 7, and the means for displaceably mounting and latching the bogie may be modified in various ways. Such modifications, readily apparent to persons skilled in the art, are intended to be embraced within the spirit and scope of my invention except as otherwise limited by the appended claims.

I claim:

1. A method of loading a semitrailer, having a rearwheel bogie displaceably mounted on the underside of an elongated body, onto a fiatcar including a generally horizontal wheeled frame and a downwardly and rearwardly sloping platform in said frame having a forward end substantially level with said frame, comprising the steps of driving said semitrailer rearwardly onto said flatcar with said bogie rolling on said platform until the wheels of said bogie abut a stop at the rear end of said platform, lowering the front of said body onto said frame forwardly of said platform by a relative swinging of said body and said bogie, displacing said body horizontally rearwardly with reference to said frame and said bogie, and locking said body against further horizontal shifting relative to said flatcar.

2. A method of loading a semitrailer, having a rearwheel bogie with a plurality of parallel wheel axles which is displaceably mounted on the underside of an elongated :body, onto a flatcar including a generally horizontal wheeled frame and a downwardly and rearwardly.

sloping platform in said frame having a forward end substantially level with said frame, comprising the steps of driving said semitrailer rearwardly onto said flatcar with said bogie rolling on said platform until the rearmost wheels of said bogie abut a stop at the rear end of said platform, lowering the front of said body onto said frame forwardly of said platform by a relative swinging of said body and said bogie about a pivotal axis in proximity to the foremost wheel axle of the latter, displacing said body horizontally rearwardly with reference to said frame and said bogie, and locking said body against furt horizon l s i t n e t e o a fl me 3. A method of loading a semitrailer, having a rearwheel bogie displaceably mounted on the underside of an elongated body, onto a fiatcar including a generally horizontal wheeled frame and a downwardly and rearwardly sloping platform in said frame having a forward end substantially level with said frame, comprising the steps disposing said bogie next to the rear end of said body, driving said semitrailer rearwardly onto said flatcar with said bogie rolling on said platform until the wheels of said bogie abut a stop at the rear end of said platform, lowering the front of said body onto said frame forwardly of said platform by a relative swinging of said body and said bogie, displacing said body horizontally rearwardly with reference to said frame and said bogie until the rear end of said body is cantilevered above said fiatcar substantially in line with the rear end of said frame, and locking said body against further horizontal shifting relative to said fiatcar.

4. A method of loading a semitrailer, having a rearwheel bogie with a plurality of parallel wheel axles which is displaceably mounted on the underside of an elongated body, onto a fiatcar including a generally horizontal wheeled frame and a downwardly and rearwardly sloping platform in said frame having a forward end substantially level with said frame, comprising the steps disposing said bogie next to the rear end of said body, driving said semitrailer rearwardly onto said flatcar with said bogie rolling on said platform until the rearmost wheels of said bogie abut a stop at the rear end of said platform, lowering the front of said body onto said frame forwardly of said platform by a relative swinging of said body and said bogie about a pivotal axis in proximity to the foremost wheel axle of the latter, displacing said body horizontally rearwardly with reference to said frame and said bogie, until the rear of said body is cantilevered above said fiatcar substantially in line with the rear end of said frame, and locking said body against further horizontal shifting relative to said flatcar.

5. A semitrailer adapted to be loaded onto a flatcar with sloping platform, comprising an elongated body, a rear-wheel bogie with a forward wheel axle and a rearward wheel axle having wheels disposed below the underside of said body, mounting means securing said bogie to said body with freedom of relative horizontal displacement, said mounting means including a hinged suspension for a part of said bogie bearing said rearward wheel axle whereby the latter may be swung about a fixed horizontal axis in the proximity of said forward wheel axle, and locking means for imobilizing said bogie on said body.

6. A semitrailer as defined in claim 5 wherein said wheels are mounted in pairs on each of said axles, the wheels of each pair being closely spaced for straddling a rail on the flatcar, said axles being further provided with rollers interposed between the paired wheels for riding the respective flatcar rail.

References Cited by the Examiner UNITED STATES PATENTS 2,010,969 8/1935 Soulis 214 38 3,004,772 10/1961 Bohlen et al. 280-415 3,012,524 12/1961 Buisson et al. 368

GERALD M. FORLENZA, Primary Examiner.

ROBERT G. SHERIDAN, Examiner, 

1. A METHOD OF LOADING A SEMITRAILER, HAVING A REARWHEEL BOGIE DISPLACEABLY MOUNTED ON THE UNDERSIDE OF AN ELONGATED BODY, ONTO A FLATCAR INCLUDING A GENERALLY HORIZONTAL WHEELED FRAME AND A DOWNWARDLY AND REARWARDLY SLOPING PLATFORM IN SAID FRAME HAVING A FORWARD END SUBSTANTIALLY LEVEL WITH SAID FRAME, COMPRISING THE STEPS OF DRIVING SAID SEMITRAILER REARWARDLY ONTO SAID FLATCAR WITH SAID BOGIE ROLLING ON SAID PLATFORM UNTIL THE WHEELS OF SAID BOGIE ABUT A STOP AT THE REAR END OF SAID PLATFORM, LOWERING THE FRONT OF SAID BODY ONTO SAID FRAME FORWARDLY OF SAID PLATFORM BY A RELATIVE SWINGING OF SAID BODY AND SAID BOGIE, DISPLACING SAID BODY HORIZONTALLY REARWARDLY WITH REFERENCE TO SAID FRAME AND SAID BOGIE, AND LOCKING SAID BODY AGAINST FURTHER HORIZONTAL SHIFTING RELATIVE TO SAID FLATCAR.
 5. A SEMITRAILER ADAPTED TO BE LOADED ONTO A FLATCAR WITH SLOPING PLATFORM, COMPRISING AN ELONGATED BODY, A REAR-WHEEL BOGIE WITH A FORWARD WHEEL AXLE AND A REARWARD WHEEL AXLE HAVING WHEELS DISPOSED BELOW THE UNDERSIDE OF SAID BODY, MOUNTING MEANS SECURING SAID BOGIE TO SAID BODY WITH FREEDOM OF RELATIVE HORIZONTAL DISPLACEMENT, SAID MOUNTING MEANS INCLUDING A HINGED SUSPENSION FOR A PART OF SAID BOGIE BEARING SAID REARWARD WHEEL AXLE WHEREBY THE LATTER MAY BE SWUNG ABOUT A FIXED HORIZONTAL AXIS IN THE PROXIMITY OF SAID FORWARD WHEEL AXLE, AND LOCKING MEANS FOR IMOBILIZING SAID BOGIE ON SAID BODY. 